GIFT  OF 


EARTH 

SCIENCES 
LiJ.iARY 


IGNIFICANT 
EATURES  IN  THE 
HISTORY  OF  LIFE 
ON  THE  PACIFIC 
COAST 

By  JOHN  C.  MERRIAM 

Professor  of  Palaeontology  and  Historical  Geology 
University  of  California 


printed  from  Nature  and  Science  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
>lished  by  Paul  Elder  and  Company,  San  Francisco,  1915. 


EARTH 

iCES 
LIBRARY 


314888 


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SIGNIFICANT  FEATURES   IN 

THE  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON 

THE  PACIFIC  COAST 


I 


BY  JOHN  C.  MERRIAM 

Professor  of  Palaeontology  and 

Historical  Geology,  University  of  California 

NTRODUCTION. — There  are  many  significant  feat- 
ures in  every  phase  of  West  Coast  palaeontology, 
but  in  certain  aspects  the  history  of  life  in  this 
region  is  as  yet  imperfectly  known,  and  little  of 
world  interest  has  been  contributed.  For  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  earlier  history  of  the  lower 
animals  we  have  here  only  a  meagre  record  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  Atlantic  Coast.  Our  story  of 
the  plants  is  largely  that  of  the  later  periods.  Of 
the  age  of  amphibians  we  have  no  amphibian 
record.  Of  the  wonderful  world  history  of  the 
great  reptile  class  we  know  but  a  limited  portion  of 
the  record  of  two  groups.  In  the  evolution  of  mam- 
mals we  lack  entirely  the  long  record  of  Eocene 
time.  After  subtraction  of  the  factors  which  are 
poorly  represented  there  is  much  remaining,  and 
it  is  to  the  features  which  are  here  unusually  well 
expressed  that  the  visitor  will  naturally  be  at- 
tracted. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  PLANTS. — Our  knowledge  of  the 
history  of  the  plant  kingdom  in  the  Pacific  Coast 
region  is  much  less  advanced  than  that  of  many 
groups  of  animals.  Of  the  plant  life  from  the  older 
or  Palaeozoic  formations  very  little  is  known  on  the 
western  border  of  the  continent,  and  not  until  we 
reach  the  next  great  division,  the  Mesozoic,  do  we 
find  material  which  has  attracted  especial  interest. 
The  oldest  well-known  flora  is  that  of  the  Jurassic 
period  of  the  Mesozoic  described  from  Oroville  in 
California,  Thompson  Creek  in  Oregon,  and  other  lo- 
calities. In  this  group  are  many  ferns,  cycads,  and 
the  strange  ginkgos  now  almost  extinct.  It  includes 
many  types  known  also  in  Jurassic  areas  of  the 
Old  \Vorld. 

The  Cretaceous  flora  is  especially  well  repre- 
sented in  the  great  thickness  of  deposits  of  this 
period  in  the  northern  end  of  the  Sacramento  Val- 
ley in  California.  It  contains  many  ferns,  cycads, 
conifers,  and  a  few  of  the  higher  flowering  plants. 
Ginkgos  are  not  known,  but  are  found  in  a  later 
flora.  Almost  without  exception  the  Cretaceous 

1 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 

Figure  11.— GEOGRAPHIC  SITUATION  OF  IMPORT- 
ANT LOCALITIES  AT  WHICH  FOSSIL  REMAINS  ARE 
FOUND  IN  THE  WEST  COAST  REGION.  On  the  map  on 
the  opposite  page  a  square  dot  indicates  the  occurrence  of 
vertebrates,  a  circular  dot  invertebrates,  and  a  triangular 
dot  plants. 


1.  Field,  Cambrian  inverte- 

brates 

2.  Nanaimo,  Cretaceous  in- 

vertebrates 

3.  Swauk,  Eocene  plants 

4.  Roslyn,  Eocene  plants 

5.  Carbonado,    Eocene  plants 

6.  Vader,   Eocene   inverte- 

brates 

7.  Montesano,  Tertiary  in- 

vertebrates 

8.  Astoria,  Oligocene  in- 

vertebrates 

9.  Pittsburg,  Oligocene  In- 

vertebrates 

10.  John  Day,  Tertiary  mam- 

mals and  plants 

11.  Crooked  River,  Oligocene 

mammals 

12.  Fossil  Lake,  Pleistocene 

mammals 

13.  Payette,  Tertiary  plants 

14.  Aspen  Ridge,  Lower 

Triassic  invertebrates 

15.  Coos  Bay,  Miocene  inver- 

tebrates 

16.  Port  Orford,  Tertiary  in- 

vertebrates 

17.  Roseburg.  Tertiary  in- 

vertebrates 

18.  Thompson  Creek,  Jurassic 

plants 

19.  Klamath  Mountains,  Cre- 

taceous invertebrates 
and  plants 

20.  Shasta  County  Limestones. 

Triassic  invertebrates 
and  reptiles 

21.  Samwel  Cave,  Pleistocene 

mammals 

22.  Potter  Creek  Cave, 

Pleistocene  mammals 

23.  Kennett,  Devonian  inver- 

tebrates 

24.  Eel  River,  Pliocene  in- 

vertebrates 

25.  Horsetown,  Cretaceous 

invertebrates 

26.  Elder  Creek,  Cretaceous 

invertebrates  and  plants 

27.  Chico,  Cretaceous  inver- 

tebrates 

28.  Oroville,  Jurassic  plants 

29.  Plumas  County,  Carbon- 

iferous invertebrates 

30.  Plumas  County,  Silurian 

and  Jurassic  inverte- 
brates 


31.  Marysville  Buttes,  Eocene 

invertebrates 

32.  Chalk  Bluffs,  Tertiary 

plants 

33.  Hawver  Cave,  Pleistocene 

mammals 

34.  Knoxville,  Cretaceous  In- 

vertebrates 

35.  lone,  Tertiary  plants  and 

invertebrates 

36.  Virgin  Valley  and 

Thousand  Creek,  Ter- 
tiary mammals 

37.  Astor  Pass,  Pleistocene 

mammals 

38.  Elko,  Tertiary  inverte- 

brates and  mammals 

39.  West  Humboldt  Range, 

Triassic  invertebrates 
and  reptiles 

40.  Cedar  Mountain,  Miocene 

mammals 

41.  San  Pablo  Bay,  Tertiary 

invertebrates  and 
plants,  Pleistocene 
mammals 

42.  Mount  Diablo,  Tertiary 

invertebrates  and  plants 

43.  Merced,  Pleistocene  and 

Pliocene  invertebrates 

44.  Santa  Clara,  Pliocene 

plants 

45.  Coalinga,  Tertiary  inver- 

tebrates and  mammals 

46.  Inyo  County,  Cambrian 

invertebrates 

47.  San  Luis  Obispo,  Tertiary 

invertebrates 

48.  Kern,  Miocene  inverte- 

brates 

49.  Ricardo,  Pliocene  mam- 

mals 

50.  Barstow,  Upper  Miocene 

mammals 

51.  Manix,  Pleistocene  mam- 

mals 

52.  Rancho  La  Brea,  Pleis- 

tocene mammals 

53.  San  Pedro,  Pleistocene 

invertebrates 

54.  Santa      Ana      Mountains, 

Cretaceous  and  Tertiary 
invertebrates 

55.  Carrlzo  Creek,  Tertiary 

invertebrates 

56.  Fort  Tejon,  Eocene  in- 

vertebrates 


Figure  11 

Geographic    situation    of    important    localities    at 

which  fossil  remains  are  found  in  the  West  Coast 

region.     Legend  for  locality  numbers  on  opposite 

page. 


GEOLOGIC  OCCURRENCE  OF  LOCALITIES  FOR  WEST  COAST 
FAUNAS  AND  FLORAS  OF  ESPECIAL  SIGNIFICANCE  IN 
A  STUDY  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  LIFE. 

All  localities  listed  in  this  table  appear  on  the  map,  Figure 
11,  on  Page  90.  The  nature  of  the  material  at  each 
locality  is  indicated  in  the  legend  for  this  map. 


Time  Divisions 

Vertebrates 

Invertebrates 

Plants 

Eras    Periods 

Pleistocene 

Rancho  La  Brea 
Potter  Creek 
Cave 
Samwel  Cave 
Fossil  Lake 

San  Pedro 
Merced 

Rancho  La  Brea 

Cenozolc 

Pliocene 

Thousand  Creek 
Ricardo 

Merced 
Purisima 

Santa  Clara 

Miocene 

Barstow 
Virgin  Valley 
Mascall 

Sqn  Pablo 
Mount  Diablo 
Coallnga 
Kern 

Mascall 
Auriferous 
Gravels 

Oligocene 

John  Day 

Astoria 
San  Lorenzo 
Mount  Diablo 

Eocene 

Tejon 
Martinez 

Puget  Group 
Clarno 
lone 

Si 
S 

Cretaceous 

Elder  Creek 
Chico 
Martinez 
Santa  Ana 

Upper 
Sacramento 
Valley 

Jurassic 

PI  u  mas  County 

OrovlUe 
Thompson  Creek 

Trlasslc 

Shasta  Lime- 
stones 
West    Humboldt 
Range 

Shasta  Lime- 
stones 
West  Humboldt 
Range 
Aspen  Kidge 

Palaeozoic 

Permian 

Shasta  County 

Carboniferous 

Shasta  County 

Devonian 

Kennett 

Silurian 

Plumas  County 

Ordoviclan 

Cambrian 

Field.  B.  C. 
Inyo 

FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 

Slants  belong  to  species  not  known  in  the  Jurassic 
ora  of  this  region.     In  a  few  areas  of  the  West 
Coast,  as  at  Vancouver  Island,  remains  of  Cretaceous 
plants   accumulated  in  sufficient  quantity  to   form 
coal  beds. 

In  the  Eocene  period,  following  the  Cretaceous, 
plant  life  was  more  abundantly  preserved  than  at 
any  other  time  in  the  history  of  the  Pacific  Coast 
region.  It  was  during  this  time  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  West  Coast  coal  was  deposited,  largely 
through  accumulation  of  remains  of  coniferous 
plants.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  condi- 
tions were  unusually  favorable  during  this  time 
both  for  accumulation  of  coal  and  for  abundant 
growth  of  plants  over  wide  areas  of  low-lying  land. 
The  Eocene  flora  is  especially  well  known  from  the 
coal  mines  of  the  Puget  Group  in  western  Washing- 
ton, from  the  Swauk  and  Roslyn  beds  of  eastern 
Washington,  from  the  Upper  and  Lower  Clarno 
beds  of  eastern  Oregon,  and  from  the  lone  forma- 
tion of  the  eastern  border  of  the  Sacramento  Valley 
in  California.  At  least  two  phases  of  this  flora  are 
known.  The  earlier  or  Cherry  Creek  phase  of  the 
eastern  Oregon  flora  contains  a  considerable  per- 
centage of  ferns  and  is  more  closely  related  to  the 
Cretaceous  flora  than  is  the  Upper  Clarno  of  Bridge 
Creek,  Oregon.  In  the  upper  flora  walnut,  birch, 
alder,  oak,  maple  and  sycamore  make  up  a  large 
percentage  of  the  plants,  and  ferns  are  not  known. 

From  strata  of  the  Oligocene  period  a  very  few 
plants  are  known  in  the  uppermost  John  Day  beds 
of  eastern  Oregon. 

The  flora  of  the  West  Coast  in  Miocene  time  is 
well  shown  at  a  number  of  localities.  In  the  Mascall  / 
Middle  Miocene  of  the  John  Day  region  very  abun-  v 
dant  remains  represent  about  eighty  species.  In- 
cluded among  these  plants  are  the  following  types : 
willow  9  species,  oak  7  species,  elm,  magnolia/ tulip 
tree,  sycamore,  acacia,  maple  8  species,  sequoia  3 
species,  yew,  scouring  rushes,  and  a  ginkgo.  A 
flora  resembling  that  of  the  Mascall  beds  is  found 
in  eastern  Washington  and  in  several  other  regions 
of  the  West.  The  flora  of  Corral  Hollow  in  middle 
California  is  referred  to  the  Upper  Miocene.  The 
splendid  flora  of  the  Auriferous  Gravels  from  the 
Sierra  foothills  of  middle  California  has  been  gen- 
erally recognized  as  Miocene,  though  Knowlton  who 
has  most  carefully  studied  it  notes  also  a  relation- 
ship to  the  Eocene.  Recent  work  has  shown  the 
presence  of  an  Eocene  marine  fauna  in  beds  thought 
by  many  to  represent  the  same  period  as  forma- 
tions containing  the  Auriferous  Gravel  plants. 

5 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 

The  plants  of  the  last  two  periods  preceding  the 
present,  that  is  the  Pliocene  and  the  Pleistocene,  are 
relatively  little  known,  though  scanty  materials  have 
been  obtained  from  formations  of  both  periods. 

HISTORY  OF  INVERTEBRATE  FAUNAS. — The  unusually 
thick  series  of  sediments  in  the  Pacific  Coast  region 
presents  an  exceptional  opportunity  for  the  study  of 
life  zones  of  invertebrates.  The  marine  faunas  of  a 
number  of  the  periods  are  at  least  as  well  repre- 
sented here  as  in  any  part  of  the  world,  and  some 
of  the  faunas  are  of  unusual  importance.  In  the 
western  region  the  faunas  of  the  Silurian  and  De- 
vonian are  not  relatively  significant.  Jurassic  faunas 
are  known,  but  are  of  relatively  small  importance. 
The  Carboniferous  and  Permian  are  represented  by 
abundant  remains  at  a  number  of  localities.  The 
Cambrian,  Triassic,  Cretaceous,  Eocene,  Oligocene, 
Miocene,  Pliocene,  and  Pleistocene  are  all  known  by 
faunas  of  unusual  interest  which  may  well  attract 
the  attention  of  the  palaeontologist. 

Cambrian  faunas  are  found  at  a  number  of  locali- 
ties in  the  western  region,  among  those  of  import- 
ance being  the  occurrence  of  Lower  Cambrian  in 
Inyo  County,  California,  and  the  extraordinary  Cam- 
brian faunal  representation  of  southern  British  Co- 
lumbia. The  occurrence  at  Field,  in  British  Colum- 
bia, is  among  the  most  important  of  the  Cambrian 
localities  of  the  world.  The  wonderful  preservation 
of  the  specimens  makes  possible  unusually  satisfac- 
tory studies  on  this  fauna.  The  slab  shown  in  Plate 
IX  illustrates  the  nature  of  the  material. 

Silurian  rocks  are  known  in  Plumas  County,  Cali- 
fornia. A  Devonian  fauna  has  been  obtained  from 
limestones  exposed  along  the  upper  Sacramento 
River  at  Kennett.  Carboniferous  exposures  of  im- 
portance appear  in  Shasta  County,  California,  where 
great  thicknesses  of  shales  and  limestones  contain  in 
places  an  abundant  fauna. 

Of  the  whole  Pacific  Coast  section  there  is  no 
division  in  which  the  invertebrate  life  is  of 
greater  interest,  or  presents  a  greater  variety  of 
forms  than  the  Triassic  of  Idaho,  Nevada,  and  Cali- 
fornia. Through  the  work  of  Professor  James  Per- 
rin  Smith  these  faunas  have  been  exhaustively  inves- 
tigated, and  a  part  of  the  result  of  this  work  has 
already  appeared  in  the  publications  of  the  United 
States  ^Geological  Survey.  By  far  the  most  interest- 
ing phase  of  the  Triassic  life  represented  in  these 
rocks  is  found  in  the  nautilus-like  molluscs  of  the 
ammonoid  group,  which  are  known  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  specimens  representing  many  genera  and 
species,  and  showing  a  remarkable  state  of  preserva- 
6 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 
tion.  In  a  study  of  the  material  available  import- 
ant results  have  been  obtained  which  bear  on  the 
evolution  of  the  cephalopods,  and  on  the  whole 
biological  question  of  mode  of  evolution.  In  a  num- 
ber of  cases  these  faunas  exhibit  close  relationship 
with  those  of  the  Triassic  of  other  portions  of  the 
world,  and  make  possible  important  studies  on  the 
geographic  distribution  of  animals,  and  on  climatic 
changes  during  Triassic  time.  Extensive  materials 
representing  the  West  American  Triassic  inverte- 
brates are  deposited  in  the  palaeontologic  collec- 
tions of  Stanford  University. 

The  rocks  of  the  Cretaceous  period  are  of  great 
geographic  extent  and  of  unusual  thickness.  At 
Elder  Creek  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  Sacra- 
mento Valley,  California,  a  measured  section  has 
been  studied  which  approximates  30,000  feet  in 
thickness.  Three  important  faunal  zones,  the  lower 
or  Knoxville,  the  middle  or  Horsetown,  and  the 
upper  or  Chico,  have  been  recognized.  Abundant 
material  representing  all  of  these  zones  has  been 
described  by  W.  M.  Gabb,  by  Dr.  T.  W.  Stanton,  and 
by  F.  M.  Anderson.  Good  collections  are  available 
at  Stanford  University  and  at  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia. The  Knoxville  division  is  by  many  consid- 
ered to  represent  the  Jurassic  rather  than  the  Cre- 
taceous. Excellent  material  from  Cretaceous  faunas 
is  also  known  at  many  other  localities  in  the  West, 
as  in  the  Klamath  Mountains  on  the  border  line 
between  Oregon  and  California,  the  Blue  Mountains 
of  eastern  Oregon,  at  Martinez  and  Mount  Diablo 
near  San  Francisco,  and  in  the  Santa  Ana  Mountains 
in  southern  California. 

The  marine  Eocene  of  the  Pacific  Coast  has  one 
of  the  best  represented  and  best  known  of  the  later 
faunas.  At  least  two  divisions  are  recognized,  the 
lower  or  Martinez  and  the  upper  or  Tejon,  in  both 
of  which  a  large  number  of  species  are  reported. 
The  Martinez  fauna  is  found  in  the  southern  portion 
of  California,  and  possibly  as  far  north  as  Wash- 
ington. The  generally  recognized  Tejon  fauna 
ranges  the  whole  length  of  the  Pacific  Coast  region 
and  serves  as  one  of  the  characteristic  bases  for 
reference  in  stratigraphy.  The  Martinez  fauna  is 
well  known  at  Mount  Diablo  near  San  Francisco. 
The  typical  locality  of  the  Tejon  is  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  in  California. 

Oligocene  faunas  are  found  in  Oregon  and  Wash- 
ington, and  have  more  recently  been  described  from 
middle  California. 

In  the  Miocene  an  unusual  wealth  of  invertebrate 
material  appears  in  Oregon,  Washington,  and  Cali- 

7 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 
fornia.  Especially  in  western  Washington  and 
southern  California  there  are  enormous  thicknesses 
of  beds  referred  to  this  period.  At  least  three  dis- 
tinct divisions  of  the  Miocene  can  be  made  on  the 
basis  of  the  faunas,  and  this  number  will  doubtless 
be  greatly  increased  by  further  study.  In  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  San  Francisco  Bay  excellent  sec- 
tions of  the  Miocene  can  be  studied,  but  the  thickest 
sections  are  represented  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  state.  In  the  vicinity  of  Coalinga  good  expos- 
ures of  the  Miocene  may  be  seen  with  the  Eocene 
and  Pliocene. 

Important  Pliocene  occurrences  are  those  in  the 
Merced  series  near  San  Francisco,  where  a  splendid 
section  of  approximately  5000  feet  is  exposed.  Good 
faunas  are  seen  again  at  Purisima  south  of  the 
Merced  region,  and  in  the  Etchegoin  formation  near 
Coalinga,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Great  Valley  of 
California. 

In  Pleistocene  time  the  sea  had  retreated  to  the 
outermost  border  of  the  continent,  but  deposits  of 
great  thickness  were  laid  down  at  some  locali- 
ties. The  fauna  is  abundantly  represented  in  many 
sections.  The  best  known  Pleistocene  of  the  West 
Coast  is  that  of  San  Pedro  in  southern  California. 
The  fauna  of  this  locality  has  been  admirably  de- 
scribed in  a  memoir  by  Dr.  Ralph  Arnold.  Accord- 
ing to  this  description  the  lower  portion  of  the  San 
Pedro  Pleistocene  represents  a  cold-water  stage, 
while  the  upper  San  Pedro  was  laid  down  under 
conditions  of  somewhat  higher  temperature.  In 
addition  to  the  abundant  invertebrate  fauna  of  the 
upper  San  Pedro,  there  have  recently  been  found 
in  these  beds  a  number  of  vertebrate  remains,  which 
contribute  important  information  bearing  on  the 
general  problem  of  time  correlation  among  the 
Cenozoic  deposits  of  the  western  region. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    VERTEBRATES. — The  relatively 
large  area  covered  by  a  thick  mantle  of  strata  depos- 
ited  in   a   sea   in   the   region   west   of  the   Sierra- 
Cascade  Range  has  given  large  opportunity  for  the 
S reservation  of  marine  invertebrates,  and  the  proba- 
ilities    of   preservation    of   vertebrates,    excepting 
fishes  and  marine  forms  of  the  higher  groups,  are 
relatively  small. 

In  the  Great  Basin  Province  no  marine  inverte- 
brates are  found  in  rocks  of  later  date  than  the 
Jurassic  period,  and  following  this  time  fresh-water 
and  land-laid  deposits  presented  large  chance  of 
entombment  of  the  higher  types  of  vertebrates. 
For  these  reasons  the  history  of  the  Pacific  Province 
is  known  largely  in  terms  of  the  stages  of  develop- 

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FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 
ment  of  the  lower  animals,  and  a  considerable  por- 
tion  of  the   Great  Basin  history  is  interpreted  in 
terms  of  the  succession  of  vertebrates. 

FISHES  AND  AMPHIBIANS. — Dr.  David  Starr  Jordan 
has  assembled  all  available  information  on  the  fossil 
fishes  of  California  in  two  papers  in  the  University 
of  California  Publications  in  Geology.  The  earliest 
described  forms  are  rare  cestraciont  sharks  from  the 
Triassic  of  California  and  Nevada.  Rare  remains  of 
sharks,  and  scales  of  the  more  modern  teleost  or  bony 
fishes,  occur  in  the  Cretaceous.  A  few  imperfect 
fishes  have  been  obtained  in  the  fresh-water  Eocene 
of  the  John  Day  region  of  Oregon,  and  at  Elko,  Ne- 
vada. In  the  marine  Eocene  of  the  Pacific  Province 
scattered  teeth  of  sharks  appear  with  fragmentary 
material  of  the  higher  fishes.  From  the  Oligocene 
scattered  remains  are  known,  but  no  satisfactory 
collection  is  available.  The  most  important  fisn 
fauna  of  the  western  region  is  known  from  the 
marine  Miocene  occurring  along  a  large  part  of  the 
west  coast.  As  yet  no  satisfactory  collection  of  this 
Miocene  fauna  has  been  brought  together.  The  Mio- 
cene fish  fauna  includes  numerous  types  of  sharks 
and  skates,  with  forms  like  the  herring  and  mack- 
erel. Other  groups  of  the  higher  fishes  are  known 
by  many  scattered  bones  and  a  few  fairly  preserved 
skeletons.  In  the  Pliocene  and  Pleistocene  many 
fish  bones  have  been  obtained,  but  the  faunas  as  a 
whole  are  very  imperfectly  known. 

As  yet  the  Amphibia  are  known  from  the  west- 
ern region  only  by  the  remains  of  a  peculiar  toad 
recently  described  from  the  asphalt  deposits  of 
Rancho  La  Brea. 

REPTILES. — The  study  of  the  great  groups  of  ex- 
tinct reptiles,  constituting  so  important  a  portion  of 
the  palaeontologic  story  of  the  earth,  has  been  lim- 
ited in  the  western  region  to  the  history  of  certain 
marine  reptiles  of  the  Triassic  period,  representing 
the  first  of  the  three  divisions  of  the  age  of  reptiles. 

In  the  Lower  Triassic,  vertebrates  are  known 
only  by  remains  of  primitive  fishes.  Middle  Triassic 
beds  are  exposed  both  in  Nevada  and  in  northern 
California,  but  vertebrate  remains  are  described 
only  from  the  limestones  of  western  Nevada.  In  the 
West  Humboldt  Range  near  Lovelocks,  Nevada,  mar- 
yelously  preserved  skeletons  of  Middle  Triassic 
ichthyosaurs  or  fish-lizards  have  been  found,  asso- 
ciated with  rare  remains  of  another  marine  reptile 
group  as  yet  only  imperfectly  known.  Several 
ichthyqsaur  specimens  from  this  region  are  now  on 
exhibition  at  the  University  of  California.  The  ma- 

9 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 
terial  is  sufficiently  complete  to  permit  a  tentative 
reconstruction  shown  in  Plate  X. 

In  the  Upper  Triassic  limestones,  reptilian  re- 
mains are  also  well  represented,  but  are  known  only 
from  the  exposures  in  northern  California.  Bones 
have  been  found  representing  the  ichthyosaurs  and 
another  marine  group,  the  thalattosaurs,  peculiar 
to  California.  While  numerous  fragments  have  been 
obtained  from  these  deposits,  the  skeletons  are 
nearly  all  imperfect  and  do  not  show  the  wonder- 
ful preservation  of  the  Middle  Triassic  specimens 
from  Nevada. 

The  history  of  the  ichthyosaurs  represented  in 
the  Middle  and  Upper  Triassic  of  the  western  region 
furnishes  one  of  the  most  interesting  studies  of  evo- 
lution thus  far  known  in  the  story  of  this  group. 
The  Middle  Triassic  forms  are  much  more  primitive 
in  every  respect  than  those  of  the  Jurassic,  and 
show  less  advanced  specialization  of  the  limbs,  tail, 
eyes,  and  teeth  for  life  on  the  high  seas.  The  Upper 
Triassic  types  are  also  relatively  primitive,  but  are 
intermediate  between  the  Middle  Triassic  and  the 
Jurassic  stages  of  evolution. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  of  all  the  multitude  of 
kinds  of  marine  reptiles  known  to  have  lived  else- 
where on  the  earth  in  the  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous 
periods,  that  is,  in  the  second  and  third  of  the  three 
divisions  of  the  great  age  of  reptiles,  only  two  or 
three  indeterminate  fragments  have  been  found  in 
the  extensive  exposures  of  rocks  of  these  periods  in 
the  Pacific  Coast  and  Great  Basin  regions.  One 
specimen  from  the  Cretaceous  of  California  is  doubt- 
fully considered  to  represent  a  plesiosaur,  a  long- 
necked  reptile  very  abundant  in  the  seas  of  the 
world  in  Cretaceous  time. 

BIRDS. — Fossil  remains  of  birds  are  among  the 
most  uncommon  of  the  relics  preserved  in  the  rocks, 
and  can  be  expected  in  relatively  few  localities.  In 
the  western  region  remains  of  bird  bones  have  been 
found  in  several  formations.  Dr.  L.  H.  Miller  has 
summarized  all  of  our  information  on  the  distribu- 
tion and  history  of  this  group  in  a  paper  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  California  Publications  in  Geology. 

No  birds  are  known  from  the  western  region 
in  beds  older  than  the  Oligocene,  from  which  a 
single  bone  has  been  obtained  at  Vancouver  Island, 
British  Columbia.  In  the  Miocene  several  frag- 
ments are  known  from  Nevada,  from  the  Mohaye 
Desert  of  California,  and  one  from  marine  deposits 
at  Los  Angeles.  In  the  Pliocene  the  material  is  simi- 
larly scanty  and  imperfect. 

The  Pleistocene  bird  fauna  of  the  West  is  excep- 

10 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 
tionally  rich,  exceeding  in  quantity  of  material  that 
of  all  other  regions  of  America.  This  fauna  is 
known  from  the  deposits  of  Fossil  Lake,  Oregon; 
Potter  Creek  Cave,  Samwel  Cave,  and  Hawver  Cave 
of  California;  Rancho  La  Brea,  California;  and  the 
marine  Pleistocene  of  San  Pedro.  By  far  the  most 
abundant  remains  are  those  obtained  at  Rancho  La 
Brea.  From  this  locality  thousands  of  perfectly 
preserved  specimens  have  been  secured. 

The  Pleistocene  fauna  as  described  by  Dr.  Miller 
contains  a  large  percentage  of  extinct  species,  some 
of  which  belong  to  genera  no  longer  in  existence. 
A  number  of  the  forms,  as  the  peacock-like  species, 
Pavo  californicus,  of  Rancho  La  Brea  have  relation- 
ships with  Old  World  types. 

Probably  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  Pleisto- 
cene birds  recently  described  is  the  giant  Teratornis, 
a  form  with  a  skull  somewhat  like  that  of  the  con- 
dor, but  with  a  narrow  beak  of  the  eagle  type.  It 
reached  gigantic  size  and  was  evidently  larger  than 
the  great  California  condor.  Remains  of  Teratornis 
occur  in  portions  of  the  deposit  at  Rancho  La  Brea 
which  seem  to  have  formed  relatively  late,  and  it 
is  not  impossible  that  this  creature  lived  on  into 
the  present  period,  and  was  known  to  early  man 
of  this  region.  Condors  and  eagles  of  numerous 
species  were  represented,  among  them  the  existing 
California  condor  and  a  number  of  extinct  eagles. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  MAMMALS. — Remains  of  extinct 
mammals  are  found  in  considerable  abundance  in 
the  Cenozoic  fresh-water  and  land-laid  formations 
of  the  bad-lands  regions  in  the  Great  Basin  Prov- 
ince. In  the  Pacific  Coast  Province  mammals  have 
until  recently  been  known  sparingly  excepting  in 
the  deposits  of  the  latest  period,  me  Pleistocene. 
The  occurrences  of  greatest  importance  in  the  Basin 
Province  are  the  John  Day,  Crooked  River,  and 
Fossil  Lake  beds  of  eastern  Oregon;  the  Washtunca 
Pleistocene  of  eastern  Washington;  the  Virgin  Val- 
ley, Thousand  Creek,  Cedar  Mountain,  and  Astor 
Pass  localities  of  Nevada;  and  the  Barstow,  Ricardo, 
and  Manix  localities  of  the  Mohave  Desert  in  south- 
eastern California.  West  of  the  Sierra-Cascade 
range  we  find  a  few  marine  mammals  in  the  great 
series  of  marine  sediments,  but  the  most  important 
occurrences  are  the  asphalt  deposits  of  Rancho  La 
Brea,  and  the  Pleistocene  caves  of  northern  and  mid- 
dle California.  Several  mammal  faunas  in  associa- 
tion with  the  marine  series  near  Coalinga,  Cali- 
fornia, furnish  information  of  unusual  significance 
in  working  out  the  problem  of  age  determination  of 
the  West  Coast  faunas  and  formations. 

11 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 

MAMMALIAN  FAUNAS  OF  THE  GREAT  BASIN  PROV- 
INCE.— Within  the  limits  of  the  Great  Basin  Province 
the  most  important  series  of  mammalian  faunas  is 
that  in  the  John  Day  region  of  eastern  Oregon.  In 
this  area  the  Cenozoic  section  from  the  base  up- 
ward comprises  the  Clarno  Eocene,  John  Day  Oligo- 
cene,  Lower  Miocene  Columbia  lava  flows,  Mascall 
Middle  Miocene,  Rattlesnake  Pliocene,  and  terrace 
deposits  of  the  Pleistocene.  All  of  these  formations, 
excepting  the  lavas,  contain  remains  representing 
the  extinct  life  of  this  region.  The  Eocene  has  an 
abundant  flora  but  contains  no  remains  of  mammals. 
Mammal  remains  are  found  in  all  of  the  formations 
above  the  Eocene. 

The  mammal  fauna  of  the  John  Day  Oligocene 
includes  a  little  more  than  one  hundred  species,  of 
which  an  unusually  large  number  of  forms  belong 
to  the  cat  and  dog  groups.  Of  the  dog  family  there 
are  at  least  18  species  distributed  among  9  genera. 
Of  the  cats  there  are  at  least  10  species,  representing 
4  or  5  genera  referred  to  the  sabre-tooth  group. 
Numerous  primitive  horses  belong  to  the  genus 
Miohippus.  Rhinoceroses  are  represented  by  the 
two-horned  Diceratherium  and  the  hornless  Acera- 
therium.  The  gigantic  pig-like  Elotherium  is  known 
by  a  number  of  fine  specimens.  Smaller  pigs  of  the 
peccary  type  are  not  uncommon.  The  most  abun- 
dant remains  in  all  of  this  fauna  are  those  belonging 
in  several  genera  of  the  characteristic  even-toed 
ungulates,  the  oreodons.  Primitive  camels  are  well 
known,  especially  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  series. 

The  fauna  of  the  Mascall  Middle  Miocene  is  less 
satisfactorily  known  than  that  of  the  John  Day,  and 
contains  a  considerable  variety  of  horses  belonging 
in  at  least  three  genera,  of  which  the  three-toed 
Merychippus  is  the  most  common  and  characteris- 
tic type.  The  camels  are  much  larger  and  more 
specialized  forms  than  those  of  the  John  Day.  The 
members  of  the  cat  and  dog  families  are  all  differ- 
ent from  those  of  the  John  Day. 

The  Rattlesnake  Pliocene  fauna  is  imperfectly 
known.  It  contains  horses  of  the  Neohipparion 
and  Pliohippus  groups,  approaching  in  many  re- 
spects the  type  of  structure  in  modern  horses.  There 
is  also  a  very  large  camel,  a  rhinoceros,  and  a  large 
peccary. 

The  Pleistocene  fauna  of  the  John  Day  is  not 
well  known,  but  contains  the  remains  of  elephants 
of  a  very  modern  type. 

On  the  northern  border  of  the  Nevada  region  are 
two  important  series  of  mammal  beds  known  as  the 
Virgin  Valley  and  Thousand  Creek  formations.  The 

12 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 
former  contains  a  fauna  like  that  of  the  Mid- 
dle Miocene  Mascall  of  the  John  Day  region.  The 
fauna  of  the  Thousand  Creek  beds  is  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  Virgin  Valley  formation  and 
most  closely  resembles  the  Pliocene  life  of  the  John 
Day  region.  In  the  Thousand  Creek  fauna  are  a 
number  of  peculiar  types  not  previously  known  in 
America,  including  certain  twisted-horned  antelopes 
which  in  many  respects  resemble  some  of  the  living 
African  forms,  and  correspond  approximately  in 
the  type  of  their  horns  to  certain  widely  distributed 
antelopes  of  the  late  Miocene  and  early  Pliocene  of 
Europe  and  Asia. 

Next  to  the  John  Day  region  of  eastern  Oregon 
the  most  important  succession  of  mammalian  faunas 
in  the  Great  Basin  Province  is  found  in  the  Mohave 
Desert.  At  least  three  faunas  are  known  in  the  bad- 
land  deposits  of  this  region. 

The  oldest  mammal-bearing  beds  of  the  Mohave 
Desert  are  the  extensive  deposits  of  the  Barstow 
formation  near  the  town  of  Barstow.  This  fauna 
represents  an  Upper  Miocene  stage  not  known  else- 
where in  the  region  west  of  the  Wasatch.  The  Bar- 
stow  fauna  includes  about  thirty  species  among 
which  the  most  common  forms  are  three-toed  horses 
of  the  Merychippus  type,  camels  of  two  groups, 
primitive  deer-antelope,  four-tusked  mastodons, 
dogs  of  the  heavy-jawed  Aelurodon  type,  and  large 
tortoises. 

A  second  faunal  stage,  evidently  occurring  in  a 
second  geologic  formation  of  the  Mohave  Desert, 
appears  in  the  splendid  exposures  at  Ricardo  on  the 
western  side  of  the  El  Paso  Range,  and  facing  the 
foot  of  the  Sierras.  The  Ricardo  fauna  contains 
mammalian  types  of  the  same  groups  as  those 
represented  at  Barstow,  but  manv  of  the  genera  and 
nearly  all  of  the  species  are  different  and  of  more 
specialized  stages.  The  Ricardo  fauna  is  most 
closely  related  to  that  of  the  Lower  Pliocene.  It 
contains  several  forms,  especially  the  horses  of  the 
Hipparion  group,  which  closely  resemble  species 
found  in  fossil  beds  of  the  Old  World. 

A  third  fauna  of  the  Mohave  is  found  in  the 
Pleistocene  of  Manix  Lake,  near  Manix  station  on 
the  Salt  Lake  Railway  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
desert.  The  mammalian  remains  at  this  locality  are 
scattered  and  fragmentary,  but  represent  the  most 
satisfactory  assemblage  or  Pleistocene  forms  known 
in  the  Mohave  Desert  area.  They  include  two 
horses  of  the  genus  Equus,  two  extinct  camels,  a 
proboscidean,  an  antelope,  and  several  birds.  A 
number  of  fresh-water  molluscs  are  also  found  here. 

13 


FEATURES  IN  HISTORY  OF  LIFE  ON  PACIFIC  COAST 

FAUNAS  OF  PLEISTOCENE  CAVES. — A  number  of 
important  discoveries  of  rich  mammal-bearing  Ple- 
istocene deposits  have  been  made  in  caverns  situ- 
ated in  the  limestone  regions  of  the  mountains  of 
northern  and  eastern  California.  The  faunas  ob- 
tained in  these  caves  have  contributed  much  to  our 
understanding  of  the  history  of  mammalian  life  on 
the  Pacific  Coast. 

Potter  Creek  Cave,  in  Shasta  County,  furnished  a 
fauna  comprising  more  than  fifty  species,  of  which 
approximately  one-half  are  extinct.  Included  in 
this  fauna  are  the  great  bear  Arctotherium,  a  bear 
of  more  modern  type  related  to  the  black  bear,  a 
puma,  a  large  extinct  lion,  an  extinct  wolf,  and  frag- 
mentary material  representing  the  deer,  mountain 
goat,  ground  sloth,  bison,  camel,  mastodon,  elephant, 
extinct  horse,  and  a  goat-like  animal  known  as 
Euceratherium.  Samwel  Cave,  also  in  Shasta 
County,  contained  a  fauna  differing  to  some  extent 
from  that  of  Potter  Creek  Cave.  The  great  bear  is 
absent,  and  there  is  present  another  peculiar  goat- 
like  animal  known  as  Preptoceras. 

Hawver  Cave  near  the  town  of  Auburn,  on  the 
overland  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway,  was 
discovered  by  the  late  Dr.  J.  C.  Hawver,  through 
whose  interest  much  material  of  scientific  value  has 
been  brought  to  light.  The  collections  from  this 
locality  comprise  a  number  of  extinct  mammalian 
forms,  but  investigation  of  the  fauna  as  a  whole  has 
not  been  completed. 

RANCHO  LA  BREA. — The  deposits  of  fossil  skele- 
tons in  the  Pleistocene  asphalt  beds  of  Rancho  La 
Brea  constitute  one  of  the  most  interesting  features 
in  the  history  of  life  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  The 
unusual  nature  of  the  accumulation,  the  vast  cnian- 
tity  of  material,  the  marvelously  perfect  preserva- 
tion, and  the  great  variety  of  life  represented  all 
serve  to  mark  this  locality  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant occurrences  of  remains  of  the  life  of  a  past 
period  known  in  America.  The  site  of  the  excava- 
tions is  about  seven  miles  from  the  middle  of  the 
city  of  Los  Angeles  and  is  within  a  stone's  throw  of 
Wilshire  Boulevard,  a  fine  automobile  road  between 
Los  Angeles  and  Santa  Monica.  The  locality  can  be 
reached  by  automobile  in  twenty  minutes  from  the 
central  part  of  the  city. 

The  bones  are  found  at  Rancho  La  Brea  in 
asphalt  pits  or  chimneys  which  are  the  vents 
through  which  oil  and  gas  have  escaped  from  great 
reservoirs  of  oil  located  far  below  the  surface.  The 
geologic  history  of  this  region  indicates  that  bend- 
ing or  breaking  of  the  strata  has  permitted  the  oil  and 

14 


FEATURES  IN 

gas  to  escape.  Since  the  first  accumulation  of  the 
asphalt,  there  has  been  very  frequent  trapping  of 
animals  coming  in  contact  with  the  sticky  pools. 
Wherever  oil  is  exuded  at  the  present  time  we  find 
birds,  gophers,  squirrels,  dogs,  and  even  cattle  fre- 
quently entangled.  This  process  has  led  to  the 
accumulation  of  great  quantities  of  remains  of  ani- 
mals in  times  past.  In  many  of  the  pits  the 
bones  are  found  massed  and  matted  together  in 
enormous  numbers.  Literally  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  specimens  have  been  obtained  from  these 
deposits.  The  photograph  shown  on  Plate  XI  illus- 
trates a  typical  occurrence  in  one  of  the  University 
of  California  excavations.  The  great  number  of 
specimens  are  shown  in  place,  exactly  as  found. 

The  representation  of  ancient  life  at  Rancho  La 
Brea  comprises  numerous  species,  the  total  number 
amounting  to  considerably  more  than  one  hundred 
forms.  These  include  an  extinct  bison,  an  extinct 
antelope,  an  elephant,  a  mastodon,  extinct  species  of 
horse  and  camel,  a  sabre-tooth  tiger,  a  giant  cat 
closely  related  to  the  existing  lion,  great  numbers  of 
extinct  wolves  and  coyotes,  a  gigantic  bird  with 
characters  to  some  extent  intermediate  between  the 
eagle  and  condor,  many  condors,  vultures,  owls, 
eagles,  hawks,  and  a  great  variety  of  other  birds 
and  mammals.  There  are  also  remains  of  toads, 
and  snakes,  insects,  thousand-legged  worms,  many 
leaves,  and  twigs  of  large  plants,  and  even  consid- 
erable parts  of  tree-trunks  with  the  attached  limbs. 

The  bones  are  all  as  perfectly  preserved  as 
though  buried  within  the  past  few  years;  they  can 
be  assembled  in  complete  skeletons  which  may  be 
multiplied  to  hundreds  in  the  principal  collections. 
Several  of  the  animals  represented  in  such  abun- 
dance at  Rancho  La  Brea  were  known  only  by  rare 
or  fragmentary  material  before  the  discovers  of  this 
deposit,  so  that  the  opportunity  for  study  onered  in 
the  Rancho  La  Brea  collection  is  unusual. 

The  wonderful  Rancho  La  Brea  fauna  obtained 
from  the  asphalt  pits  comes  from  deposits  accum- 
ulated in  the  Pleistocene  period,  which  preceded 
the  present  day  by  many  thousands  of  years.  As  oil 
and  asphalt  are  constantly  being  exuded  from  the 
soil  in  this  region,  it  is  natural  that  in  some  locali- 
ties deposits  of  the  present  day,  and  stages  between 
the  present  and  Pleistocene,  may  be  associated  with 
the  older  deposits  of  Pleistocene  time. 

Good  specimens  representing  the  principal  ani- 
mals of  Rancho  La  Brea  are  to  be  seen  at  the  Mu- 
seum of  History,  Science  and  Art  in  Los  Angeles, 
and  at  the  University  of  California  in  Berkeley. 

15 


FEATURES  IN-JkSTGRYjQF  LjFEON  PACIFIC  COAST 

PREHISTORIC  HUMAN  REMAINS. — Among  the  most 
interesting  west-American  occurrences  of  actual 
human  bones  which  have  made  some  claim  to  an- 
tiquity are  the  famous  Calaveras  skull,  certain  stalag- 
mite encrusted  human  bones  from  Stone  Man  Gave 
near  Potter  Creek  Cave  in  northern  California,  and 
the  recently  discovered  human  skeleton  from  Pit 
Ten  at  Rancho  La  Brea.  The  Calaveras  skull  is  now 
generally  held  to  have  come  from  a  cave  deposit,  in 
which  it  may  have  been  entombed  for  many  years. 
This  widely  known  specimen,  monographed  by  Pro- 
fessor Whitney,  and  ridiculed  by  Bret  Harte  in  his 
well-known  ode  to  a  Pliocene  Skull,  is  evidently 
not  the  skull  that  was  placed  in  a  mining  shaft  for 
the  purpose  of  perpetrating  a  joke  on  the  miners. 
The  remains  in  Stone  Man  Cave  were  covered  with  a 
considerable  layer  of  stalagmite  and  may  be  very 
old,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  make  certain  of  their 
age.  The  specimen  found  at  Rancho  La  Brea  was 
associated  with  a  fauna  which  is  mainly  Recent. 
The  peculiar  nature  of  the  occurrence  in  asphalt 
chimneys  at  Rancho  La  Brea  makes  difficult  any 
definite  determination  of  age  from  occurrence  alone. 

In  the  San  Francisco  Bay  region  human  remains 
are  abundant  in  great  shell-mounds  at  Shell  Mound 
Park  in  Emeryville,  and  at  Ellis  Landing  near  Rich- 
mond. These  mounds  have  been  partially  buried  by 
gradual  up-building  of  the  surrounding^  marsh,  co- 
incident with  a  depression  of  the  region  which 
carried  the  bases  of  the  mounds  from  an  original 
position  above  the  sea  to  a  situation  many  feet  below 
mean  tide  level.  The  remains  in  these  mounds  are 
certainly  very  old  measured  in  terms  of  years,  but 
they  are  very  young  geologically,  and  belong  to  the 
present  or  Recent  period. 


16 


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